The two men orchestrated a £1.5 million, or $2 million, crypto investment scam that defrauded at least 65 victims. Meanwhile, Brazil faced a major financial breach when a disgruntled employee of C&M Software sold login credentials for just $2,700. This then allowed hackers to steal nearly $140 million from central bank-linked accounts—some of which was laundered via crypto assets.
In Sweden, the government is leveraging a new law that allows asset confiscation, including crypto, even without a formal conviction. The main goal of the law is to help curb organized crime, and has already led to the seizure of over $8.3 million in assets. Collectively, these cases prove that there is rising regulatory pressure and a growing emphasis on the role of crypto in financial crimes worldwide.
UK FCA Cracks Down on Crypto Fraudsters
Two men were sentenced to a combined 12 years in prison in the UK for operating a crypto scam that defrauded at least 65 victims out of more than £1.5 million ($2 million). The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced on Friday that Raymondip Bedi received a prison sentence of five years and four months, while his co-conspirator, Patrick Mavanga, was handed six years and six months. The pair pleaded guilty in November of 2024 to a series of charges including conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to breach UK financial regulations.
According to the FCA, between February of 2017 and June of 2019, Bedi and Mavanga were part of a group that cold-called people and directed them to what appeared to be a legitimate investment website. These sites offered high returns on fake cryptocurrency consultancy services. The operation funneled money through several entities they controlled, including Astaria Group LLP, CCX Capital, and clones of authorized firms like Ian Buckley Financial Services and Capital Partners Group.
The FCA described both men as “leading players” in the fraud, with Southwark Crown Court Judge Griffiths stating that they “conspired to drive a coach and horses through the regulatory system.” Mavanga also pleaded guilty to possessing fake identification documents and was convicted of perverting the course of justice for deleting phone call recordings after Bedi’s arrest in March 2019.
The FCA’s joint executive director of enforcement, Steve Smart, condemned their actions as a “callous scam” that “ruthlessly defrauded dozens of innocent victims.” A third defendant that was involved in the case is set to face retrial in September after the jury was unable to reach a verdict. A fourth individual, Rowena Bedi, was acquitted of a money laundering charge.
Millions Stolen in Brazil Central Bank Hack
Cold calls are not the only crypto crimes plaguing the crypto community. C&M Software, the technology provider that connects Brazil’s Central Bank to various financial institutions, suffered a major security breach on Wednesday that led to the theft of approximately 800 million Brazilian reais, or $140 million.
The funds were stolen from six institutions linked to the central bank after a C&M employee allegedly sold their login credentials to a hacker for just $2,700. This small but devastating lapse allowed the attacker to access reserve accounts and siphon off a massive amount of capital.
The employee suspected of selling his login credentials (Source: Sao Paulo Globo)
Blockchain investigator ZachXBT reported that the perpetrators laundered between $30 million and $40 million of the stolen funds by converting them into Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and USDT. These crypto assets were then funneled through Latin American exchanges and over-the-counter trading platforms, making the funds much harder to trace. This incident intensified concerns around the security vulnerabilities of centralized financial systems, particularly those that rely on single points of failure like user credentials and internal access controls.
Telegram post by ZachXBT
The breach also shed some light on the increasing threat landscape facing centralized software and infrastructure, especially in a digital era fueled by the growing capabilities of artificial intelligence. According to Chainalysis, hacks targeting centralized crypto exchanges surged in the third and fourth quarters of 2024, which attributed to cybercriminals focusing on platforms with large attack surfaces and valuable data troves.
Eran Barak, CEO of Shielded Technologies and developer of the Midnight privacy-focused blockchain, shared some thoughts on the broader implications of such breaches. He explained that centralized systems offer massive return on investment for cybercriminals due to their concentration of sensitive information. In contrast, decentralized technologies like those using zero-knowledge proofs greatly reduce this appeal.
By eliminating central data repositories, these systems force attackers to go after individual wallets, making attacks less rewarding and often not worth the effort. Overall, it is very clear that there is an urgent need for institutions to reconsider the risks of centralized architecture and adopt more resilient, decentralized alternatives.
Sweden Targets Crypto Crime with New Asset Seizure Law
Meanwhile, Sweden's Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer urged local enforcement agencies to intensify efforts aimed at seizing assets, including cryptocurrencies, under a recently implemented law that broadens the scope of confiscations. Speaking to financial publication Dagens industri, Strömmer said that authorities like the police, tax agency, and Swedish Enforcement Authority should focus more on cases likely to yield larger criminal proceeds like crypto holdings, real estate, and corporate assets. Since the law came into effect in November of 2024, the Swedish government reportedly seized over $8.3 million in criminal assets.
Swedish Justice Minister Gunnar Strömmer
The law was introduced to combat rising violent crime, and it allows authorities to confiscate luxury items and large sums of money from people who may not necessarily be the subjects of a formal investigation. The legal shift is a major expansion in Sweden's asset forfeiture strategy.
According to the Swedish government, the law allows authorities to seize assets with suspected criminal origins even without proof that a crime has been committed, provided the individual cannot reasonably explain the source of the wealth. For example, someone holding large bank balances or luxury goods without a verifiable income to support such possessions may have them confiscated.
While the government hasn’t specified how much of the seized assets were in cryptocurrency, the focus on digital assets suggests an increasing recognition of crypto’s role in illicit finance. Some reports indicate controversial enforcement actions, like one case flagged by The Economist in which a woman had $137,000 in cash and a Rolex watch seized while passing through Gothenburg-Landvetter Airport. Authorities reported seizing approximately $1 million in goods during the law’s first week.
(Source: Barron’s)
Additionally, Swedish lawmaker Rickard Nordin recently advocated for Sweden to keep seized Bitcoin as part of a national reserve. In April, he sent a letter to the finance minister recommending a strategy similar to the United States’ “budget-neutral” approach, which involves accumulating seized Bitcoin without selling it.
